ADK Vacation Road Trip #2

Silly me...I forgot to mention yesterday that 2 days after my drive to Tupper Lake I discovered there was a quilt store in town. It was too far to drive back again so I've saved it on my to do list for next summer :)

On Wednesday of my trip, I got up early (OK, actually I was awake every day of my trip by 6am...go figure!) and headed off for Black Bear Mountain which is right next to Rocky Mountain that I climbed last September.

I neglected to look up online information on BBM before my trip. I had checked a couple cheap maps but had I looked it up online I would have known that there were 2 trails at this trail head so while I can guess that I climbed the longer/muddier trail which is a 6.2 mile round trip, it's really any one's guess.

The trail was intermingled with muddy spots and dry areas. There were also steep rocky/root covered sections and then actual rock face climbs. Some, like this vertical climb luckily had foot and hand holds. Others were more or less rounded rock surfaces that took advantage of shoe friction to keep you in place.



Yup - just climbed this vertical rock face.

At one point in the hike, I heard a funny single tap. I heard it again and began walking more slowly. Eventually I figured out it was a woodpecker testing various trees and stood there looking for him. Boy was I thrilled to discover it was a pileated woodpecker! Sadly, he didn't stick around long.

Eventually I made it to the top of BBM - It's not a great shot of the view but I think my grin is pretty snarky because it reflects my attitude of "Hell Yeah, I made it to the top!" It had only taken 1.5 hours of heat, sweat, muscle and bugs to get up there!

The views continued forever and after exploring some of the boulders at the top of the mountain I found a little shade and got to work :)

I enjoyed almost 2 hours alone at the top of the mountain but headed down once it got "crowded." It was a little harrowing going down some of the rock faces...some I backed down since it otherwise felt like going down a ladder face first with no railings. My legs were pretty wobbly the whole hike down due to the grade, rocks and roots to manuever. I was never so happy to reach my car.

Tomorrow will probably be my last road trip report...I think I can get all the photos in one post...

ADK Vacation Road Trip #1, part #2

Continued from last week...

So, I had randomly made the decision to drive all the way to Tupper Lake. I had no idea how long the drive would be and hadn't even been there in 20+ years so I had no idea if there would be anything to even see or do. After a bit of driving around small town type streets I saw signs for The Wild Center which is a natural history museum of the Adirondacks. Bingo!

When I pulled in to the parking lot there was only 2 other cars and there were "weeds" everywhere. I was beginning to second guess my decision...but I decided to check the front door anyway. Hah! Turns out they had just opened 5 minutes ago and I was the first one there. And, being a natural history museum, I am going to guess the "weeds" were wildflowers or something along those lines...

I glanced over the schedule of daily events and noticed in just 15 minutes they would be feeding and entertaining the river otters! They are certainly hard to get pictures of because they never seem to sit still while they run and play in the water and they are behind 6" of glass so I'll just share a photo of this cute little girl finally settling in for a nap...2 hours later!

The rest of the museum included a wonderful 3D movie on the annual migration of monarch butterflies and exhibits on fish and amphibians in the ADK. The melting glacier exhibit, complete with sounds and running water, was amazing. There was even a huge globe hanging in a room that could display movies about lightening, hurricanes and such from either local or global perspectives.

And then I moved outside to see the rest of the exhibits. There were lots of gardens with native perrenials and places to sit by the pond. BTW - this land used to be a gravel pit of sorts and instead of converting another property to their needs, they utilized the landscape and included a pond in the leftover pit. Ingenious! It's probably a little hard to see in either photo but the water level is at the bottom ledge of the windows. From inside the building, you are standing 3 feet below water level.

One of the buildings was "green" - literally - 1 side of the roof had a sedum garden and the other side had almost 200 solar panels. The solar panels were supposed to run a fountain in the pond but it didn't seem to be working - and trust me as it was near 90 in the blazing sun so it should have been working!

As I continued walking down the hillside trails, there was a bird blind and lots of trees and boulders to peruse. At the bottom of the hill was a river with 2 decks to sit on. As with the whole vacation, the bugs were horrid and bug spray wasn't making a difference so after just a few hexies I trekked back to my car and called it a day...I still had a 75+ minute to drive back to camp after a stop for 'ADK Black Bear' ice cream at Long Lake, of course!

Design Wall Monday - 7/29/13

 

Doesn't everyone have hexie coasters and keep their clickers in a funky flower pot?!



It appears that I didn't take a single "process" picture of this project. Oops - I promise to take some when I finish the 2nd table topper because I learned a few things along the way.

It appears I started this last July when my other project at the time was no longer portable. I made kinda slow progress because it wasn't my fav project - the shapes took more effort. Of course in the ensuing year I've basted lots of different shapes so now they are no problem. I completed the top last September and then quilted it sometime in the fall but stalled at finishing the project. I wanted to replicate something I had seen online but I was kinda going to be making it up as I went along...

Since I never took pictures, essentially, after the project was quilted, I completed another row of hexies to match the top and stitched it around the perimeter of the topper. The batting and backing was trimmed away. The facing row of hexies was flipped to the back side and then appliqued in place. There is no binding to this project!

The second Star Blossom topper is about half done...I was waiting to finish the first one so I had the kite pieces I need. This is from a kit so the shapes are not standard sizes.

I guess these curly-q quilt designs are becoming a bit of a trademark...
I'm good at them and use them a lot :)

Feline Friday - 7/26/13

Momma *finally* came home from her vacation!!

As soon as she opened the door I beat it outside...GrandMomma wouldn't let me do that. I sniffed around the yard before settling in the veggie garden. It's kinda hard to tell but besides grass and snowpeas on the little white fence, can you guess what the rest is? Nope, it's not catnip - Momma planted a whole bunch of seeds for me and not a single one came up :( The rest are actually weeds that went wild while she was gone so guess what she claims she will do on Sunday?! Don't worry, I'll be out here again to snoopervise.

Since Momma had lots to carry in to the house she hooked the screen door open. Midgie decided to check out the porch but often ran inside as Momma carried something up the steps. Twice she jumped off the porch (only I get to do that!) but she got right back on when Momma told her to.

The big surprise was when my wussy brother also came out on the porch. Momma grabbed the camera fast because this hasn't happened in the 5 years that they have lived here. I guess he thought it was ok if the rest of us did it. Go Pepper!

Momma says to tell you in the process of adding this linky party, she realized it's now been a whole year of Feline Friday Linky parties. Go felines & friends! Since Momma has to pay for this service (it must be cutting into my kibbie treats), she asks that if you ever want to sign up for an inLinkz account you use a link from one of our linky parties...she gets a little commission that way. Thanks!

ADK Vacation Road Trip #1, Part #1

On Monday, 7/15/13 I headed north of where I was camping.

My first stop was going to be Buttermilk Falls. I had assumed, like everything else in the Mts, that it would be a hike so I had some granola bars and hexies in my camelback along with the binocs and camera. When I pulled up by the roadside sign I knew this was no hike as I could already hear the water gushing over the falls! Turns out the rains before I went camping had created a monster. Dad tells me he has been there before when it was calm enough for people to swim. Not this day!

The water starts in this pond like area, altho I really think this is a river.

but goes into a very narrow channel and then over the falls

into another pond like area, where this foam is created - is that the buttermilk?

There were short walking path above and below the falls, including steps to make it easier to climb.

Instead of the pile of poo I was hoping wasn't from a bear or a moose (altho I really would like to see a moose, just not alone in the woods), I'll share this next little beauty...

It was so loud sitting next the falls that I couldn't hear myself think! I didn't get many hexies completed before I decided to move on.

I drove past Blue Mountain: given the heat and difficulty rating of climbing the mountain, I talked myself out of it this trip.

I stopped at Hoss's in Long Lake - it's pretty touristy but they have nice book and camping gear sections as well. And yes...that pine tree does grow up through the store!

Since it was only 9am I decided to drive a little farther which took me to (I think) Racquet River.

I then thought I would keep going to Tupper Lake but it turns out I took quite a few pictures there which would make this post extremely long so I'll save it for another day...

Almost Wordless Wednesday

So where was I for 10 days? In the Adirondack Mountains!
Specifically I was camping at the 8th Lake (state) Campground.

Site 38, on 8th Lake, as I started to unpack

The campground is located between 7th and 8th Lakes.
This is sunset on 7th Lake.



The mornings can be foggy so often when I went to feed the ducks at 8th Lake this was my view.



Barely any of the lake was visible...but I loved how it disappeared in to the fog.



And other days, the view just continued forever!!



I almost forgot to take a pic of my setup....This was my second Friday here.
Nothing fancy compared to some of the other sites but homey enough for me.



Friday night brought some rain clouds.
Yeah, I ate a cold dinner in the car as the sandy ground tends to flood easy.
Luckily my new tent (thanks Santa!!) stayed dry!



Unfortunately, the storm on Saturday (while I was away) was too much for (Daddy's!) canopy to handle and this was what I came back to. There was no saving it so I got the maintenance guys to help me take it away.
It was actually kinda nice to have dinner and the campfire under the stars that evening.



Tomorrow will either be hiking/climbing or critters...I haven't decided just yet...

Life is never dull...

...Besides problems with the AC and my cellphone battery dying, today my laptop had a nasty virus and it's just been fixed. Lunchtime is long over so I'll just save my ADK photos until tomorrow...

Sorry :(

Design Wall Monday - 7/22/13

Did y'all miss me? I know three little felines that missed me :^)

I have a ton of photos to sort thru so I'll keep today short and post more on my trip for the rest of the week. I hope you don't mind lots of hexie and camping photos!

I was able to finish these 8 twisted hexes...I had hoped to get a few more done but when you see what else I also accomplished, I think you'll agree that I done good!

I took the hexies with me everywhere and except for 1 day trip, managed to get a photo with the hexies in it - I'll share those later this week. I also sat around my campsite hexing along to audio books! In all, over 10 days, I finished 4 audiobooks, 2 kindle books, 1 paperback book, several magazines and started another kindle book. I could have used another audiobook but the Inlet Library was less than accomodating.

If you are interested in seeing what books I have finished lately...check out my Shelfari page. I highly recommend Rainwater and The House Girl! For anyone who reads a lot I recommend getting a free Shelfari account - it allows you to track the books you have or wish to read, offers book reviews and suggestions and I can easily look up author info or all the books in a series. I've been a member for just about 4 years now and it's a good source of info.

If you emailed me or commented in the last week...bear with my while I wade thru almost 250 emails...

Feline Friday - 7/19/13

This is what's called a soap box...and I'd just like to say that I've had enough of this so called vacation and want to know when Momma is coming home?! GrandMomma and GrandPoppa are nice but I want Momma!

I'll get off my soap box now...altho, on second thought, I really like this box so I'll stay a little longer!

HeLP for Hexie-aholics - July 2013

I've scheduled this post to go live before I went camping but you can bet that whether I am sitting around my campsite today or hiking some mountain, I have my hexies with me!! I'll take pictures to share next week :)

This is probably the project I am working on as you read this post - my twisted hexies. And it's also the batik I bought at a local show last month. I am hoping to use it for the outer border (and yes there will be a black inner border, altho I won't really cut off the hexies). It's not exactly the colors of the hexies but since I used everything but the kitchen sink in the hexies I think the border will work. Trust me...this batik is just gorgeous and the colors are so rich!

Next post will be 7/19 for Feline Friday - cya then!

** Please remember that any EPP project, new or old, is eligible for a link in today's party but please link to a specific post. Links to your blog-in-general will be deleted. Sorry.

Feline Friday - 7/12/13

Ackckckck!
Intruder Aler! Intruder Alert!



Anyone need some mulch?
Momma has 4 buckets full!

Meet Peepers, short for Peeping Tom. Someone dumped him in our 'hood and he routinely peeps in the screen doors and porch windows. Drives us crazy with his crying. He's very friendly and we wish we could him him but Momma hasn't broken down yet...
PS - do you like Momma's purple toes? We do!

Next post is HeLP for Hexie-aholics on 7/17/13 - cya then!

Garden Tour

This is the front corner of my house. When I bought it 5 years ago, the pine trees were only as high as the newel post at the bottom of the steps and the hydrangea was pretty small. The hydrangea was looking fantastic this year until the rains mashed it down. It's hard to see on the front porch but there is a pot of dark purple petunias and what was supposed to be purple/white fuscia. I wasn't so happy when the fuscia opened and it was pink :(

To the side of the porch is my eventual "cutting garden" that I want filled with lots of tall flowers. It's still a work in progress but the bee balm has just opened and it smells Divine. The garden contains red and pink bee balm, blue balloon flowers, hardy geranium and yellow/maroon day lilies. The phlox has yet to bloom while the bleeding heart has finished. The purple delphinium will rebloom in a month or so.

This is the front garden, outside my studio. Yes, those are the feeders where Pepper watches birdievision. It needs some rearranging because the birds dropped cone flower seeds and now there are tall cone flowers in front of shorter plants. This garden has purple, yellow and white cone flowers just starting to open - I'm sure the birds will be in heaven. The yellow cone flowers (surrounding the shepard's hook) are over 6 feet tall this year! The yellow stella d'oro and sun drops are just about done but now the maroon and purple day lilies are opening. Both my purple clematis are a little unhappy with the recent heat but also 6+ feet high.

This little purple cone flower has curly leaves!

Be a Hexie Queen

Do you read the sewwequilt.com blog?
If you do then you know that a very exciting new hop was posted today!!!!
It's all about being a Hexie Queen and you know I am all over that! LOL


I signed up for the hop but now I am waiting to see if I am picked - please keep your fingers crossed for me. I have been working on a project anticipating this hop...Yes, it's hexies but it's unlike any other hexie project I've made so far and y'all know it takes longer to design-as-you-go than to follow someone else's pattern...

I know there are lots of hexie-aholics who follow my blog ...be sure to get over to sewwequilt.com to sign yourself up as well!

Lunchtime entertainment

grrrr - blogger isn't playing nice for the second day in a row...anyone else not able to "compose" forcing you to do a post in HTML mode?

Anyways...I spent the evening doing more prep for my camping trip. I walked thru the studio to get to my to do list on the laptop but that was it...I didn't even touch fabric last night :(

Thankfully, I have an hour for lunch each day and can spend a good part of it hexing while I watch youtube vidoes :) This obviously won't be done before my trip but that's ok cuz I'll just add it to my entertainment box and take it with me. LOL!